About Smiling Sheep

Our journey started in 2016 when our Suffolk sheep kept climbing our fruit trees and damaging them. We thought there must be a better way and so started researching and found the adorable Babydoll Southdown breed. This heritage breed was the original Southdown before they were bred to be larger carcass size. These small and sturdy sheep have grown in popularity due to their size and docile nature to be excellent lifestyle animals. They are also extensively used in orchard and vineyards to reduce the amount of mowing and spraying, and to add some natural fertiliser! Babydolls are currently popular in USA, Canada, UK, Australia and New Zealand.

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In 2017 we imported some Babydoll embryos from the UK and implanted them in surrogate ewes. This was the foundation for our flock. We have done 2 more rounds of Embryo Transfer since then to increase our numbers faster and amplify the 4 different genetic lines we imported. This year we welcomed 62 lambs (some natural matings, most Embryo Transfer) and excited to finally be able to share this precious breed with other New Zealanders.